Webinar | Sep 2017 | Energy Justice
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The document discusses energy justice, emphasizing social justice concerns related to energy production and consumption, and addressing inequalities in access, benefits, and costs associated with energy systems. It outlines various dimensions including distributional, procedural, and recognition justice, and highlights the need for ongoing consideration of these issues across different scales. Additionally, it provides reflections on the material and social dimensions of energy justice and suggests that it is not a fixed property but requires continuous engagement and analysis.
Webinar | Sep 2017 | Energy Justice
- 1. Introduction to energy justice DR ROSIE DAY SENIOR LECTURER SCHOOL OF GEOGRAPHY, EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM, UK
- 2. What is energy justice? o Social justice concerns applied to energy systems o concerned with addressing inequalities in who benefits from energy systems and who does not, or who pays the costs o includes aspects of energy production and energy consumption o as well as energy and energy services, includes attention to linked concerns of e.g. pollution, employment, land access o some scholars also include environmental considerations under energy justice (i.e. justice to the environment as well as to people)
- 3. Example energy (in)justice issues o Unequal access to clean fuels according to location o Differential impact of smoke from solid fuels o Differential use of energy services according to gender o Displacement of people from land to make way for energy development o Distribution of profits and benefits from energy developments such as solar parks cf. distribution of costs and impacts o adequacy of information about energy related issues, energy costs, and new energy developments o extent of ‘voice’ in energy policy o Safety of appliances, fuels and infrastructures
- 4. Distributional Justice Procedural justice Justice as recognition Spatial injustice Rawls, Barry , Sen Young, Shrader- Frechette, Aarhus convention Fraser, Young, Honneth, Taylor Harvey, Soja Conceptual framework for environmental / energy justice
- 5. Concepts and questions o Distributional justice questions: Who has access to energy and to energy services? how are the benefits and costs of energy enterprises distributed between individuals and groups? o Spatial justice questions: how is access to energy and energy services distributed across space? How are rights to space (land) affected by energy developments? o Procedural justice questions: who has influence in energy policy and energy decisions, at different scales? Who is excluded and why? Is information adequate and who does it reach? o ‘Recognition’ questions: whose energy needs are paid attention to and whose are ignored? Are customs and cultures accommodated? Are energy systems and appliances designed to suit diverse needs? Is everyone’s safety respected?
- 6. Reflection 1: Energy justice and injustice has material and social dimensions. Material Access to fuels, appliances, infrastructures Ownership of space; access to land Design of appliances and infrastructures Maintenance and safety of materials Social Rights of access and use (e.g. according to gender, income, caste, ethnicity..) Needs being taken into account e.g. in system design Participation and representation in decisions Energy justice and injustice, although it involves the organisation of materials, is fundamentally a social and political problem
- 7. Reflection 2: Energy justice is not a fixed property of a system, but requires ongoing enactment
- 8. Reflection 3: Energy justice requires thinking at different scales, but can also involve a politics of scale
- 9. Reflection 4: energy justice is not a bounded field
- 10. Conclusions • Considering ‘energy justice’ means considering aspects of social justice, fairness and inequality in energy systems, from production to consumption • This may be in terms of energy itself, fuel, infrastructures, energy services, and the profits, costs and associated risks of energy production. • concepts drawn from social justice literature are useful to think about what justice means: distributive, procedural and recognition aspects are often discussed in the literature. • Energy justice involves attention to material aspects and the social arrangements within which they are incorporated • energy justice can be analysed at different scales • As such, energy justice interfaces with other aspects of social justice and may be one symptom of more fundamental inequalities My contact: [email protected]
- 11. Some energy justice related reading Books: Bickerstaff K, Walker G and Bulkeley H (2013) (eds) Energy Justice in a Changing Climate. Zed books, London. Sovacool B, Dworkin M (2014) Global Energy Justice: Problems Principles and Practices. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Schlosberg D (2007) Defining Environmental Justice: Theories, Movements and Nature. Oxford University Press, Oxford (the concepts discussed are easily applied to energy justice). Journal Articles: Day R, Walker G, Simcock N (2016) Conceptualising energy use and energy poverty using a capabilities framework. Energy Policy 93, 255-264. Open Access Yenneti K, Day R (2016) Distributional justice in solar energy implementation in India: The case of Charanka solar park. Journal of Rural Studies 46, 35-46. Yenneti K, Day R, Golubchikov O (2016) Spatial justice and the land politics of renewables: dispossessing vulnerable communities through solar energy mega-projects. Geoforum 76, 90-99. Yenneti K, Day R (2015) Procedural (in)justice in the implementation of solar energy: The case of Charanaka solar park, Gujarat, India. Energy Policy 86, 664-673 Fuller S. and McCauley, D., 2015, ‘Framing energy justice: perspectives from activism and advocacy’, Energy Research & Social Science, Sovacool B, Burke M, Baker L, Kotikalapudi C, Wlokas H (2017) New frontiers and conceptual frameworks for Energy Justice. Energy Policy 105 p677-691.
Editor's Notes
- #6: But when looking at real world situations, the justice or injustice often involves several or all of these aspects. Overall effect – reinforces existing inequalities